San Antonio International Airport officials trumpeted the addition of nonstop service to the cultural and economic hub of Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico, during a Thursday press conference.
The new flights to the Central Mexican city will be through Mexican budget airline VivaAerobus and will launch Dec. 1, offering flights every Monday and Friday. Airport officials said they hope the new route will attract Mexican and American business travelers as well as tourists.
The announcement follows two years of discussions to secure direct flights between Querétaro and San Antonio, the city’s director of airports, Jesus Saenz, told reporters. It also comes two weeks after city officials announced nonstop service between San Antonio and Frankfurt on German airline Condor.
Querétaro has experienced an economic boom since the ’90s, mostly due to its burgeoning automotive and manufacturing industries. It’s among the wealthiest metro areas south of the border.
The Mexican city also has business ties to San Antonio-based grocer H-E-B and to Toyota, which produces Tundra pickups in the Alamo City, according to officials. Indeed, H-E-B opened its fourth store in Querétaro on Tuesday.
Christian Guerra, president of San Antonio’s Avanzar Interior Technologies, said he welcomes the nonstop flights, adding that he often spends six hours connecting through Dallas or Houston to reach the city on business trips. His firm supplies automotive interiors to Toyota in both San Antonio and Mexico.
“In real terms, I can now possibly go down and come back in the same day versus a two- or three-day deal,” Guerra told the Current.
VivaAerobus already provides service between San Antonio and Mexico City, Monterrey and Leon. The budget carrier will expand those routes in December to include daily service to Mexico City and flights three times a week to Leon, officials said during Thursday’s press conference.
San Antonio International isn’t done adding routes either. Saenz told the Current he expects to announce more direct flights before the end of the year.
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This article appears in Oct 4-17, 2023.